Grady Lawson passes away

ASHEBORO — Take a walk around the city of Ramseur and it would be hard to find someone not touched in some way by Grady Lawson.

Lawson, who was to many the Eastern Randolph community, passed away Monday afternoon at Hospice of Randolph County after years of declining health. Lawson turned 88 Sunday.

Although Lawson is known for his dedication to the eastern part of Randolph County and Eastern Randolph High School, his willingness to help people — especially student-athletes — stretched much further than the Ramseur border.

From running a service station, owning a towing business, being a member of the Randolph County School Board for 40 years, running the American Legion baseball program and countless other endeavors, Lawson put his stamp all around Randolph County.

“When you talk about Grady Lawson, you talk about a person who loved ER so much and he loved the kids so much,” said former longtime Eastern Randolph High School football coach and athletic director Burton Cates. “They didn’t have to be at ER for Grady to love them. They just had to be in his sight. There aren’t many communities that I can think of that have a person like Grady Lawson that influenced so many people. It’s a void that will not be filled.”

As the longtime athletic director for the Eastern Randolph American Legion baseball program — he is a member of the American Legion Hall of Fame — Lawson stayed in touch with many of his former American Legion players, including Tim Murray. Murray graduated from North Moore High School but played Legion baseball at ER.

“He helped me get started with everything,” Murray said. “From American Legion ball in 1985, as soon as I graduated from Elon, he helped me get my first job in Coleridge. It was February of ’91. He actually took me to meet one of the assistant superintendents for a job that came open and a week later, I got the job.

“He’s been a big influence in my teaching and coaching career,” Murray added. “All the years I helped out as head coach or assistant coach, he would pick up players, help them out financially with food, clothing or gloves. Not because he wanted anything. Grady wanted you to have the same stuff that everyone else had. It didn’t matter if you came from a wealthy family or a poor family. He treated everyone the same and everyone respected him for that.”

Lawson was always at a game. Until a few years ago when his health began to decline.

“He was somebody who really

cared about the players,” ER Legion coach Jerry Kidd said. “He loved baseball and he loved the players. I was a player for him first. I’ve known him for many years and he generally cared about the guys. He trusted me for some reason and I coached for him on and off for years. He cared about Eastern Randolph so much. Here’s a guy who never attended Eastern Randolph, never taught there and yet he was put into the first class of their hall of fame. And deservedly so. It tells you the impact he had.”

There are dozens and dozens of stories telling how Lawson would help a student-athlete, whether it would be to arrange a ride for a practice or a game, help with car repairs or filling their tanks with gas.

Another administrator who was influenced greatly by Lawson is Danny Martin. Martin has spent a great many years at Eastern Randolph and then Providence Grove high schools as a coach and athletic director.

“Just think how many young men in the last 60 years or so he has influenced in some way,” Martin said. “In high school, kids would go to his service station and he would fill up the car and tell them to pay later. If they needed something, he made sure they got it.”

Martin said he will always remember when he went to PG for the first time.

“When he first showed me the plans for the new high school, I was against it,” Martin said. “It would have a big effect on Eastern Randolph. And I will never forget he really ripped into me. It was like your daddy would rip into you. He knew the crowded situation and he wanted what was best for all the kids in the county. We miss that leadership. You won’t find anyone who loves Eastern Randolph as much as he did, but he cared about every school.”

Martin said he will really miss the nights the Randolph Sports Council holds its annual banquets.

“I would pick him up and we would drive and we would talk about the history,” Martin said. “It was amazing. He told me so many things that I never even knew about Randolph County. This is a great loss for the entire county.”

Charles Arrington, the ER varsity football coach and nephew of Lawson, said the lessons he learned from his uncle are too numerous to list.

“It’s a tough day,” said Arrington, who also lost another uncle, Calvin Arrington, a few days ago. “I don’t know if there has ever been anyone who has meant as much to a community as he did. And not just because of sports. He taught people how to be better people, better in the church, better family men. And although he is recognized a lot for what he did at Eastern Randolph, he cared about every school. People don’t know the concern he had for all the schools. He had a deep passion for the whole county. The hours he put into the entire county are unmatched.”

Neil Kivett is another student-athlete who was influenced. Kivett played and coached at ERHS and saw firsthand the amount of energy Lawson put toward ER.

“If he had all the money that he spent on baseball piled up, it would be unbelievable,” Kivett said. “But all he did it for was for the enjoyment of the kids.”

“Grady meant a lot. He was Eastern Randolph,” former ERHS varsity baseball coach Tommy Maness said. “It’s a big loss. He meant so much to the Eastern side, but all of Randolph County. He was on the school board forever. He was always there to help anyone at Eastern Randolph and in Randolph County. He did so much for the sports programs and he treated everyone fairly. It is so sad that he passed.

“I was so glad to see him at Hall of Fame night,” Maness said of the Sept. 22 ceremony. “There was a gleam in his eye. It was a special night.”